The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was 0.4% lower on the session at 96.47. The index hit 96.38 in overnight trading, the lowest since February 2021 and a move that extends the index’s 2025 slide to just over 11%, the dollar’s worst start to a year since 1973.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday outlined the options to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as his boss Donald Trump published a note he sent to Powell again asking for interest rates to lowered.

Jerome H. Powell, whose term does not expire until May, has argued that the central bank can afford to be patient about cutting interest rates amid uncertainty about the economic outlook.